International scholarship taking Wilson to Ghana

Wilson will spend the spring semester in Africa, studying at the University of Ghana after being one of seven Nebraskans and over 700 American undergraduate students from 341 colleges and universities in the U.S. selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

While in Ghana, Wilson will take classes, go on excursions and volunteer at a school where she hopes to teach science.

Wilson, a biology and environmental science major, is excited about experiencing Ghana’s culture and meeting international students studying at the university.

“I’ll learn how they see life,” she said, “how children learn internationally and how classrooms work in Ghana.”

She’s always been interested in helping children learn and will get to share what she learns with the Doane and Crete communities as a part of a service project when she returns. Her project will include using nature photos from Doane students’ study abroad experiences to create a global nature site in Doane’s Outdoor Classroom.

“I think it’s important for children to see nature in other countries,” Wilson said. “(The children) can see that these students studied abroad and maybe they can, too.”

Wilson is thoroughly involved with the outdoor classroom. She serves as Roots and Shoots president and is a Student Congress senator on the Green Committee on top of being in a number of other outdoor clubs.

She plans to go into a career in ecological research and work internationally.

“This (scholarship) will really help me decide if I like going abroad,” she said.

The scholarship offers up to $5,000 for students to study abroad and is awarded to students who are underrepresented.

Wilson had to complete an online application, a personal statement essay describing why she was underrepresented and an essay outlining her service project.

“I have always been intrigued by the wildlife and various cultures of Africa, but never truly thought I find would myself there, especially while in college,” she said. “Studying abroad in Ghana will give me the opportunity to engage in experiences and adventures I never imagined I would with students equally dedicated to personal growth and cultural understanding.”